Best reservations site?
 

Hi all, I'm about to reserve my trip to Thailand and wonder if anyone had any recommendations on which site to book on. It seems Asiarooms, my usual selection, is getting too pricey. I recently checked out Agoda's prices and they are much different(Is Agoda known to be reputable?). Thanks if you can help!

K

Going direct is a good option too these days, especially with the large chains. In any case, you just have to check out all of your options. Agoda is reputable, by the way.

I quite often use www.atsiam.com They are cheaper for SOME places but not others so check them all. The drawback is that like Asia Rooms you have to pay upfront. They are however very helpful and seem to be good if you need to cancel.

Lots of people here use Sawadee which don't charge upfront but they are usually a bit dearer than either Asiarooms and At Siam

I haven't used Agoda at all.

All of the ones mentioned here are reputable. As both Craig and Mary note, one site may have a better price on one hotel and worse than another. I've found that checking both with booking sites and directly with the hotel is the only way to tell what the best price is. By the way, sometimes the hotel will match a price elsewhere - and they typically do so without any upfront payment or deposit. They usually ask for a credit card number and will charge the card for your first night if you don't cancel in advance (time limits vary, but tend to range from one week at the long end, to by 6 pm the day of arrival on the short end).

Craig- Thx! I will look into this :)

MaryW- Will try out atsiam.com. Thanks a lot :]

Kathie- Thank you :] When you say the hotel will match pricing, do you mean with another hotel of same level? Thx again!

K

I, too, usually use asiaroom, but I recently got an email from agoda about specials. Since I'm going to be in Thailand in Feb, I was waiting to see if prices went down. Agoda had the studio that I usually get at Centre Point Silom for $23 less a day than asiarooms. I contacted the hotel directly and asiarooms for a price match, but neither would lower their price. The "rules" and cancellation looked about the same. I always have trouble booking on their website, but I used the 24/7 chat to make reservations and it went smoothly. They will even email you a copy of the transcripted chat for your records.

www.asiaoz.com/thailand_hotels.html offers sawadee rates and also Hotelclub, Rates To Go ( only of use within 28 days of stay ) and hotels2thailand, so you can compare.

We stick with those offering sawadee and have done so for years, no credit card need for enquiries, only 1 night deposit when you decide, balance 2 weeks before arrival.

www.beachsiam.com offers sawadee rates but includes tips and ideas in addition to the rates, weather, domestic travel ideas etc

i use both, but agoda gives money back on future res...

i still like www.huahin.20m.com but some of their prices have been more lately...

lots of places are doing some shifting if you talk to them directly

Mango, No, I mean that if you find hotel X on a website that offers it at $100 night but you have to pre-pay, sometimes you can call hotel X and they will agree to give you the room for $100 per night (but no pre-pay). Or the hotel booking site might offer breakfast thrown in, and you can ask the hotel if they will do likewise. It doesn't always work, but it doesn't hurt to ask.

We have almost consistently for our holiday in Feb gotten better or matched rates direct from the hotel. Exception is Le Meridien - I think I may have found it better through netflights.com. Last trip we used sawadee a lot but this year, their prices are not great in comparison. I found with Agoda that when you click through to book, the rate changed (and not just taxes being added on) - couldn't work out why. But I do searches on all sites to check best price.
BB

Chiming in in support of atsiam.com.

Their customer service is really good. I had to go to them for various reasons for my trip last Dec.

First I enquired about cancelling due to the Bangkok unrests and within 24 hours, they replied via email to say I could cancel up to a week before my scheduled dates despite their no-cancellation policy for the super peak period.

We decided to go ahead with the trip but we had an additional person joining us. Centrepoint's policy for their studios was definitely no triples! They would not take a 3rd adult in the same room despite my offering to pay extra $ and not needing any extra bed.

I went online to chat with atsiam.com's 'live' customer support and the agent got a 'special case' for me from the hotel for a small additional sum, payable direct to the hotel (atsiam.com did not get any additional $ for their efforts).

To top it up, the agent called my mobile (international call) to confirm that my request has been settled by them.

To say the least I was very pleased with them. And their 'live support' chat system really connects you to an agent in real time. Very good for solving problems on the spot!

I use the www.comparior.com website to find the best deals among some of the reservation sites. It doesn't include all of them though like expedia for example.

Thanks a lot everyone! :) Your suggestions really help me.

Its amazing how different pricing is among different sites. I did notice that asiarooms is getting too expensive--Travelocity is $50 cheaper for a night at the Sofitel Silom!!

Again, thanks so much everyone and Happy New Year :]